Later episodes will see Ki-hoon drawn back into a whole new round of squid games. But this time, he’s there to expose the mysterious frontman (Lee Byung-hun, who looks absolutely horrifying) who is the leader of the game. Viewers have recognized the character from the first series, a privilege not afforded to Ki-hoon. If he infiltrates elsewhere, he will not be able to establish a connection.
With all the previous participants killed off, director Hwang had the luxury of having a largely blank slate of characters for the second series, focusing on the fascinating backstories of this motley new crew. I have a mother and a son who is a gambling addict. They were both surprised to see another person there. A vulnerable young woman, a former Marine, a crypto influencer, and a menacing drug-popping rapper (a delightful Easter egg for Korean music fans, performed enthusiastically by rapper Choi Seung-hyun). Also known as TOP) He lost all his money after purchasing cryptocurrencies recommended to him by the aforementioned influencer.
But this time, there’s also the origin story of No-eul (a quietly passionate Park Gyu-young), a desperate woman who fled North Korea but was forced to leave her baby behind, and discovers that she is one of the security guards. It became clear. A clever plot twist is added to this frightening fable.
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What’s interesting about this series is that Ki-hoon is treated like Cassandra when he returns to the game to warn the contestants of their impending death. They either don’t believe him or don’t want to believe him. In the age of fake news, contestants can assume anything that benefits them is true. That Ki-hoon is a “madman” or that he is a plant.
This split in opinion forced the contestants to vote on whether or not to continue the game, with teams “X” (voting to abort the game) and “O” (voting to continue the game) It gets even more intense when we split up. In a well-observed microcosm of our own divided society, this spills over into hateful violence: online, in politics, in culture wars. The four-minute sequence of gruesome, strobe-lit brawls is probably the most brutal scene you’ll see on TV all year (along with other organ-hunting shots that require you to put your hands on your eyes and watch). ). But it also highlights how people are manipulated by those in power to turn against each other, rather than fighting together against the roots of evil.
In the press notes for the new series, director Hwang said: “Through the players of the game, we wonder: Isn’t this what our society is like now? Aren’t these people who we are? It was a strange thing.” It was surreal 10 years ago, but unfortunately it’s very real now. “Squid Game” has no resolution to the fictional bleak and sadistic world it presents or the real world it reflects. Just a reminder that the house always wins at the expense of the players.
There’s no doubt that the second installment in the Squid Game series is likely to be just as big as the first. The game is just as surreal and perverted, with just as many murders and plenty of gunfights. It is also confirmed that this role is the role of a lifetime for Lee Jeong Jae, whose expressive face conveys the horror of what he is witnessing. The only voice of reason in a world of madness. he won Emmy Award for Best Male Actor in a Drama 2022;The next ceremony will have even more people attending the show.
It’s a little longer at seven episodes, two episodes shorter than the previous series, but some of the recurring voting and gunfight scenes can drag on. It also felt obvious from the beginning that a double-crossing character was going to be revealed. We welcome you back to this hellish world. The series ends abruptly. It includes a cliffhanger and a flash of a mid-credits scene that sets the stage for the third series, due to be released in 2025. It’s a tortuous and frustrating ending for viewers, but isn’t that the name of the game?
★★★★☆
Squid Game Series 2 will be released on Netflix on December 26th.
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